From dogs and goats to cows and horses, animals offer calm, joy and acceptance for children with all needs.
Third Mondays are bustling every month at the Irvine Heritage Park Library with kids, parents — and dogs.
It’s when the library’s Read to a Dog program takes place, giving children the chance to read a book to a therapy dog in a relaxed setting to a very non-judgmental listener. On a recent program day, it was Miro, Carson, Daisy and Crosby offering their caring ears to the 20 or so children taking their reading journey through each doggie station.
“Our Canine Literacy volunteers and their dogs are available to the public where young students, especially those with reading difficulties can come and work with and read to a dog,” says Kevin Marlin, executive director of Orange County Animal Allies, an animal welfare nonprofit supporting both animals and the community. “Through a partnership with the OC Public Libraries, we are working at select public libraries throughout Orange County.”
Orange County Animal Allies, along with a variety of other programs in the area, have seen the benefits that interacting, petting — or even just sitting with — an animal can bring to humans. Children, and especially those with special needs, may thrive with the calming presence of a therapy animal. And therapy animals don’t simply include dogs.
Farm Therapy
“The animals at The Gentle Barn are so beneficial for those with disabilities as the animals give us an opportunity to practice vocal skills, motor skills and confidence,” says Ellie Laks, founder of The Gentle Barn Foundation. “No matter what people are going through and what we are trying to overcome, animals offer a safe space, unconditional love, help us release oxytocin, lower our heart rate, reduce worry, stress, fear, anxiety and depression, and feel needed, wanted and loved. Animals also help us laugh and smile, which some of us don’t do as much as we could.”
The Gentle Barn, with locations in Santa Clarita as well as Missouri and Tennessee, is an animal sanctuary that saves abused, neglected and injured animals, and gives them a home.
“The Gentle Barn was started in 1999 in my tiny half-acre backyard,” Laks says. “We are home to horses, donkeys, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys, llamas, alpacas, dogs, an emu, peacock and a parrot. We rescue animals who have nowhere else to go, rehabilitate them, give them sanctuary with us and then partner with them to heal people with the same stories of trauma, and connect people to the love and magic of animals.”
Laks says the barn offers equine therapy to teach self-confidence and leadership skills, barnyard therapy — which gives people a chance to check their stress at the door and spend time with smaller animals, cuddling with them and rubbing their bellies — and cow hug therapy.
“Cow hugging is laying against a cow and allowing them to wrap you in their necks,” Laks says. “You close your eyes and your heart starts to beat with the cow’s heartbeat. You begin to breathe and meditate with the cow. You remain in the cow’s embrace for an hour and this allows you to release past trauma and stress.”
Goods & Goats Market in San Juan Capistrano has also discovered the benefits that farm animals can have on children’s wellness — especially goats. One of its offerings is goat yoga, which according to its website, “has demonstrated positive effects on both mental and physical well-being. Studies indicate that interacting with animals can effectively lower stress, and may even mitigate symptoms associated with depression and anxiety.”
Owner Lani Jones says they offer goat and baby goat yoga for all ages on the weekends and they have an open house type of petting zoo for kids called Playtime on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, Jr. Farmers School and summer camps, among other goat-inclusive programs, including for those with special needs.
“We offer [programs to] all different types of children,” Jones says. “I have found that autistic children really, really respond to the goats, as well as children with hearing or visual disabilities. Just to sit with them and touch them and feel their presence is very calming and joyful. My goats are cuddle trained … just love love, love playing, love people and see their hearts truly and reflect all of that back on them.”
Allen Mesick, OC Fair & Event Center’s Centennial Farm supervisor, says they see a lot of special needs students come through Centennial Farm through all of their school tour programs as well as Discovery Days, which is self-guided. All the school programs for the children are free.
“A lot of our animals will come up to be petted and they’re very friendly,” he said. “So our goats and sheep, for example, are real popular and we find that the special needs students love touching their fur. It’s a very tactile experience.”
He says they have a very good representation of animals that are found on a typical farm. There are sheep, dairy, fiber and meat goats, beef, Angus and dairy cattle, a pair of oxen, chickens, peacocks, rabbits and pigs — including newborn piglets at times. Every child gets the opportunity to pet a baby chick, too. The farm also offers oxen demonstrations where volunteers show how they use sound commands with the oxen.
Mesick says one of their volunteer docents told him there were some special needs students in a recent school tour who saw the oxen demonstration.
“She could see some anxiety in one child in particular,” he says. “It wasn’t until they got to the oxen demonstration that things clicked. He was able to actually go up to the oxen and pet the oxen. And she said it was like night and day. His face and whole demeanor changed and he just lit up. And she said for the rest of the tour, he was like so focused and so engaged.”
The Shea Center in San Juan Capistrano offers a broad spectrum of equine-assisted services. Therapy Services Manager Randi Shannahan, PT, DPT, HPCS, says that three core programs of medical therapy services, adaptive horsemanship and equine-assisted learning can help in many physical, psychological, cognitive, emotional, behavioral and communication-related conditions. Adaptive Riding Development Manager Shari Masline says the center offers six week-long integrated day camps in the summer for kids with and without disabilities, and four one-day Shea Camp Experiences, designed for first-time campers. Camps are taught by adaptive riding instructors.
“The Shea Center serves clients — ages 2 and up — with varying diagnoses including, but not limited to autism, cerebral palsy, genetic disorders, learning disabilities, anxiety, depression, PTSD, developmental delay, stroke, cancer, speech/language disorders, sensory integration disorders, vision and/or hearing impairment,” Shannahan says.
Shannahan and Masline say animals offer emotional support, stress reduction and physical benefits for children and people of all ages with disabilities. They provide companionship and motivation for physical activity, reduce stress levels and help develop social skills and confidence. Interacting with animals stimulates the senses, encourages learning and fosters emotional regulation and increased self-confidence in children.
And horses do offer something special.
“The horse’s pelvis moves in the same three-dimensional planes of movement as the human pelvis when walking. This movement can facilitate appropriate muscle activation, posture control and positioning needed to improve range of motion, strength and balance and provide input to physical, sensory, cognitive and emotional systems to address daily living skills,” Shannahan says. “The average horse walks at a rate of approximately 100 steps per minute. In a 30-minute treatment session or riding lesson, the horse will provide 3,000 neuro motor inputs to the human astride, which offers 3,000 opportunities to improve posture, balance responses and motor learning.
“Horses are prey animals, and as such are finely attuned to, and react to, human emotions and body language. Working with horses on the ground teaches emotional regulation, relationship building with the horse and the development of life skills.”
All Animals, All Needs
Robyn Takeshita, school programs manager at Ocean Institute in Dana Point, says that while they don’t have specific school or camp programming designed for students with special needs, they can adapt many of their offerings for guests of various abilities.
“We partner with schools to provide programs for ESL students, adapt activities for students that are visually impaired, provide accommodations in communication styles for deaf students and so much more,” she says. “Additionally, we work to ensure our campus, including our research vessel is ADA-friendly to provide interactive learning opportunities for all guests. We have cultivated partnerships with various organizations to support special needs throughout our community, including working with adults with special needs through our volunteer programs to provide vocational training.”
Public Programs and Volunteer Manager Sara Vaughn says that for many special needs students, the animals at the Ocean Institute serve as a gateway to connect with nature and the ocean.
“Our hands-on activities, such as our sea star and shark touch tank experiences, allow students to explore the wonders of the ocean while still in the classroom, and provide a great introduction to our local ecosystems,” she says. “Our touch tanks house local marine life species including horn sharks, round rays, shovelnose guitarfish and four species of sea stars. … Each animal in our touch tanks has a unique, describable texture and individual personality. These factors allow for an ease in interaction by knowing what to expect when touching it and making a bond between the guest and the animal. We believe that experience is the teacher, and creating this interaction for students, campers and all guests educates more than pictures ever could.”
In addition to literacy programs, the dog therapy teams at Orange County Animal Allies work with a number of schools and school districts to help ease stress and encourage learning with Special Day Class classrooms and students.
“Through the nurturing of a therapy dog, students are able to adjust more easily where fitting in and learning can be difficult,” Marlin says.
He says their teams also visit weekend clients at ACES in Irvine, where the teams help young children on the autism spectrum learn how to interact with and walk with the dogs.
“They have the opportunity to pet and even brush the dogs and learn about the differences between hair and fur,” he says.
The teams also work with Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana to provide support and companionship at the Special Games each spring.
“The dogs are used in a variety of different ways,” Marlin says. “At rehabilitation and recovery facilities, they often serve as motivation for physical activities and regaining movement through physical therapy, led by the dogs. Other times the dogs can be helpful in providing and building confidence, boosting self-esteem, because they offer unconditional love and support, regardless of any disability or condition. The dogs are non-judgmental and just want to help.”
By Jessica Peralta
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